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Erbil, Iraq — There are more than 10,000 Christian families who fled Mosul and the cities of the Nineveh Plain who have found refuge in the suburbs of Erbil and in other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. Some statistics on this part of the refugees driven out from their homes due to the advance of jihadists of the Islamic State group were collected in October by the Chaldean diocese of Erbil to arrange the distribution of a "Family Card" for refugee family units.
Thanks to the work of young volunteers, the data of refugee families were entered into a database along with their telephone numbers. Thus, the diocese can monitor and update their distribution in the different areas and calibrate the distribution of aid according to different needs. From the data collected, which was published on the website ankawa.com, it seems that 6,377 of the 10,353 households surveyed come from the area of Qaraqosh, the area where the majority of Christians live.
The majority of the displaced — 7,850 families — found refuge in Ankawa, a predominantly Christian suburb of Erbil. Among the refugees are students in middle and high school and about 10,000 university students, and almost 8,000 children.
On Wednesday, during a brief trip to Ankawa, the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Louis Raphael I and Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan, visited a reception area of refugees and the headquarters of some health and social institutions involved in providing support to refugees.
And today we celebrate...